The Act of Subtly
by princ3ssf33t
Summary: Keeping things on the down-low was somewhat of a specialty of theirs. But sometimes there were factors outside their control, especially when it came to the young pup under Hawkeye's care.


It was a rare treat for Lieutenant Hawkeye to bring Hayate into work. When he was a puppy, she would often have the young pup accompany her as he was too young to be left alone in her apartment yet. As he grew older and the lieutenant successfully toilet trained him, his visits to the office grew fewer until the point where it was only during special circumstances that he was able to come.

But Kain Fuery had always enjoyed when the lieutenant had brought in Hayate to work. It helped reassure him that the pup he had found shivering in the rain was happy and healthy. Not that he didn't trust that the lieutenant was capable of that. She was an incredibly reliable and responsible woman. If she could handle the colonel on his worst days when he wanted nothing to do with the paperwork that had landed on his desk, she could raise a small puppy.

Sometimes Fuery thought the puppy was more mature than the colonel. And the puppy had peed against the wall inside.

Nevertheless, it was clear that Hayate adored his adoptive mother. And that the lieutenant loved the pup. There would be a softening of her face whenever Fuery asked about Hayate's wellbeing that Fuery had seen only a few times the whole time he had worked under the colonel.

On the days when the dog would come in, there would always be a distinct way that the lieutenant would enter their shared office, in order to warn Breda that there was a dog in the vicinity so he could compose himself for when Hayate came in and wouldn't climb to the top of the cabinet present in the room. She would knock twice on the door before opening it; the only time anyone ever bothered to knock on the door. But Hayate would come bounding in soon after and bounce from one person to another, sniffing as he went.

That day though, there was no excited puppy to greet them when Lieutenant Hawkeye opened the door in the morning. In fact, when Fuery looked up when the lieutenant opened the door, there was no dog in sight. Just the lieutenant holding open the door.

It took a few moments, but slowly the little pup staggered into view. It didn't take long for Fuery to deduce that something was wrong with the little guy. His ears and tail drooped towards the ground, whereas they would normally be in the air. When Hayate looked over to Fuery, he could see that the pup's eyes were bloodshot and there was mucus built up at the corner of the eyes.

"Good morning Lieutenant," Fuery said. "What's the matter with Hayate?"

Hawkeye took her eyes off of her dog for a moment to look at Fuery before returning to look at the puppy she adopted. Her concerned expression never wavered when her eyes changed focus. After a second or two of watching her dog slowly make his way inside, Hawkeye bend down and scooped Hayate into her arms. The dog appeared disoriented for a little while from the sudden change of position, but nestled in his mother's arms he soon settled and closed his eyes.

"I'm not entirely sure. I had wanted to take him in to the clinic this morning before work, but when I had called for an appointment, there had been no available slots for us. The soonest I could get was this afternoon, and it made more sense to bring Hayate to work instead of leaving him at home only to pick him up to drive back past headquarters here to get to the clinic." She reached up and scratched Hayate on the head behind his ears. The pup whimpered a little.

Fuery nodded and returned to the form he was filling out. Someone had broken the transmitter on the two-way radio the other day had not bothered to report it. Imagine his surprise and frustration when he went to use it in the morning and found that it was no longer operational. And because he was the one to have found the broken machine he was the one to fill out the form to petition for the replacement part.

There are not many times in his life where he's tempted to swear, but this is shaping up to be one of them.

Hawkeye settled Hayate underneath her desk, dropping a blanket first for him to lay upon. He was quick to settle in the worn blanket kept at her desk for just that purpose. Hawkeye settled into her normal morning routine, gathering the various documents that needed to be signed for that day.

The rest of their co-workers followed in at a somewhat even pace. Falman settled down at his desk and resumed the files that he had spent the last few days organizing and refiling them for the people downstairs in records. Breda came in eating probably what was the last of his breakfast, and hadn't even realized that Hayate was there sleeping under the desk across from him. Havoc had barely settled into his chair before launching into a story about the girl he'd been out on a date with the night before with Breda.

The Colonel shuffled in late, as per usual, and grimaced at the sight of the paper stack his First Lieutenant had left for him. It was a good day. He only sighed at the amount of work that was given to him before sitting down at his desk and starting his work.

A few of the subordinates in the room had to do a double take to ensure that it was really the Colonel seated behind the desk. Sensing their eyes, he looked up, brows furrowed.

"What?" He asked.

The men were quick to avert their eyes back to whatever task had been and their morning continued on.

"Sergeant Fuery, could I acquire your assistance?"

Fuery looked up from his paperwork gratefully. The amount of words and numbers on the page in front of him was beginning to make his vision swim. If there was an errand that the lieutenant wanted him to run for her he would gladly take it at this point. Even it was just to take the trash out to the dumpster.

"I have to run an errand for the Colonel, but if while I'm gone you could see if you could get Hayate to eat or drink something I would appreciate it. He didn't touch the bowl I set down for him this morning at breakfast, and he hasn't emerged from under my desk all morning. If you attempt to get him to ingest something I would be most grateful to you." She slipped her arms through her coat, gathered up the different folders and books in her arms and walked out to the door.

"Yeah, I can do that."

Hawkeye sent him a grateful smile. "Thank you Kain."

The lieutenant shut the door and he heard her boot steps walk quickly away from the office. Fuery surmised that she wanted to get the errand done as quickly as possible because she didn't want to leave her pup unattended for very long.

He glanced around the room. With the Lieutenant out running an errand, Breda and Havoc out for lunch, and Falman somewhere in the records room, it was only Fuery and Hayate in their offices. The Colonel had run out to take care of some 'urgent business' and had been gone for the past hour.

Fuery put down the pen he'd been holding and walked around to the Lieutenant's desk. Peering down underneath, he could make out the shape of the sleeping pup.

"Hey, buddy. Do you think that you could come out here?" Fuery asked him. Hayate didn't make a sound or movement to indicate that he'd heard the young communications officer.

He crouched down and took the water bowl that the lieutenant had left for her pup.

"Hayate, I know that you aren't feeling well, but you're worrying your owner because you haven't eaten anything today. Couldn't you at least drink something for her?"

Hayate looked at Fuery and gave a small whimper. He wasn't going to be moving from that spot any time soon. Not without an outside hand coming in and physically moving him.

Sighing, Fuery set down the bowl of water and reached in under the desk for the pup. As his hands got near, Fuery could hear a faint growling. Startled, Fuery yanked his hands back and stared at the pup. Had Hayate _growled_ at him?

Thinking perhaps he had imagined the dog growling at him, Fuery reached in again. This time there was no mistaking the sound. Hayate _was_ growling at him. His teeth were bared and he scoot farther back underneath the desk away from Fuery's outstretched arms. Brushing aside the growling - Hayate had done a similar thing when he had first rescued the pup from the rain -Fuery's hand continued on. It was only when he touched the dog's fur that Hayate had given enough of a warning, and snapped at the officer's hand.

Feeling the sharp, needle-like teeth of the puppy nip his skin, Fuery retracted his hand as fast as he could. In his haste, he bumped his head on the bottom of the Lieutenant's desk and landed on his rump hard.

"Was there a reason why would you were under the Lieutenant's desk Sergeant?"

Fuery looked up to see that the Colonel had returned from his 'urgent business' and was smirking down at the young man. Fighting to keep his embarrassment from showing so blatantly on his face, Fuery scrambled to his feet.

"The lieutenant wanted me to see if I could get her dog to drink something while she was out sir. According to Lieutenant Hawkeye, he wasn't feeling well and hadn't eaten anything all morning. I was attempting to get him to drink some water, but he snapped at me. Sir." Fuery kept his hand from reflexively saluting his commanding officer.

The colonel frowned. That was unlike the pup that Fuery had brought in that day in the rain. After the lieutenant, it was arguable that Black Hayate held the most affection for the man who had lifted the pup from a wet cardboard box all those months ago. For him to snap at Fuery meant that something was definitely wrong with the pup.

Colonel Mustang set down what he was holding in his hands on Fuery's desk and walked around the cluster of desks to crouch down next to Fuery. He peered underneath the lieutenant's desk to look at the whimpering puppy.

Hayate was curled tightly in the corner. His eyes reflected the light from the rest of the office space. When he saw another face watching him, he let out a pitiful whine.

"Are you sure he snapped at you Sergeant?" The colonel slowly reached out a hand to Hayate.

"Be careful, sir. Hayate's teeth are still sharp," Fuery warned. But he made no motion to stop his commanding officer from reaching out.

The colonel laughed. "He's a dog, Fuery. Of course he's going to have sharp teeth."

Fuery knew that his embarrassment was written on his face. He was glad that the colonel was focused on the dog under the desk and that there was no one else in the room to see it. He was so consumed by his relief that he almost missed what was asked of him.

"I'm sorry sir, could you repeat that?"

Colonel Mustang looked up at the younger man and repeated his question. "Would you go dim the lights? Just turn half of them off. I think it may be too bright for him to come out right now."

"Yes, of course." Fuery walked to the light switch and did just as he was commanded. He turned and was on his way back to see if he could now get Black Hayate to drink anything when he froze in his tracks.

The colonel was whispering to the dog. His voice was low enough that Fuery was unable to make out the precise words that the colonel was using, but he knew the tone. It was gentle and soothing, with a touch of firmness. It was a patient tone that any parent would make when their child was being unruly.

The thought of the colonel talking to Hayate as if he was his own pet or one of his kids almost made Fuery want to laugh. It created an image that was almost too strange to comprehend. The Flame Alchemist being any sort of family man was odd.

But somehow, the image almost suited him.

Jerking his thoughts from the strange and outrageous, Fuery's jaw nearly dropped when he became aware again.

Hayate was in Colonel Mustang's arms.

And he was sitting still.

That was a feat that Fuery never could accomplish. It was also something that the lieutenant could have trouble with even on the best of days. The pup was good at following behind his mistress loyally, but confined in someone's arms left him squirming for freedom every time. It might have been possible that Hayate didn't squirm in the colonel's arms because he was too ill to make any protest, but he had still voiced his displeasure that morning when the lieutenant had picked him up.

Then again, perhaps Hayate was having flashback to when he first met the colonel and was waved through the air like a ragdoll and thought it best to remain as still as possible.

But there was no distress on Hayate's face when Fuery looked down to it.

It looked like the pup was falling back to sleep.

"Sergeant." Fuery's face snapped up to the colonel's. That was the voice that gave out orders and was to be obeyed. "As you were. I'll take care of Black Hayate for the lieutenant."

"Sir."

Fuery returned to his desk and settled in to drown in the paperwork again. His eyes wandered over to the colonel and watched closely. It might just be another one of the colonel's attempts to postpone his paperwork. It wouldn't have been the first time that he had attempted to use Lieutenant Hawkeye's dog in such a manner.

The toilet paper incident would forever live in the back of their minds.

Again, Fuery found himself stunned as he watched. The colonel had shifted the pup in his arms and bent down to pick up the bowl of water that Fuery had set on the floor. Together, the colonel and Hayate moved to Colonel Mustang's desk. There they sat with Hayate settled on Mustang's lap. The pup rested his head on the top of the desk, looking out at the rest of the office.

Fuery couldn't decipher what his commanding officer was telling the dog, it was too quiet and too far away, but it sounded like Colonel Mustang was attempting to persuade the dog to do something. Drink the water perhaps. That assumption was correct when Fuery saw as Mustang moved the bowl underneath the muzzle of the dog.

Expecting the dog to push the water bowl away, Fuery was relieved and surprised when Hayate sniffed at the water before lapping at it for a few seconds.

"How'd you do that sir?" Fuery exclaimed, unable to keep his astonishment quiet.

Mustang looked at Fuery. A sheepish smile spread across his face, like he knew the answer but wasn't going to divulge it. It was a guilty smile. Fuery dropped the subject.

Both men returned to the paperwork on their desks, there were things that needed to be completed by the end of the day, and couldn't be pushed back. Fuery was swarmed by numbers once again. Mustang kept one hand petting the dog on his lap while the other hand scribbled his name on the proper places within the documents.

By the time Lieutenant Hawkeye and the rest of their coworkers returned from the various excursions they had been on, the pile of completed documents was taller than the ones that were uncompleted. Fuery had completed the file that had been giving him a migraine and moved onto another one. That one provided less of a headache.

The rest of the afternoon proceeded as normally as it would have been had Hayate not been there at all. Havoc and Breda joked at the others expense, while talking about what their plans for the evening were going to be. Falman had pulled out a book he kept in his desk for instances where he finished all of his work for the day to read. It wasn't until Lieutenant Hawkeye got down on her knees at the end of the day that Fuery remembered that her dog was supposed to be there.

"Sergeant, did you see where Hayate went?" She asked popping her head above the desks again.

Before Fuery could get a word in, the colonel was already answering her.

"He's safe Lieutenant. It so happens that your dog is sleeping soundly on my lap. Did you know when he dreams, he has the tendency to kick out?"

Havoc and Breda snickered at the thought of the puppy kicking out in his sleep while on the colonel's lap. The colonel shot them both a withering glare that silenced them, but did nothing about the smiles on their faces. It was under that glare that they gathered up the rest of their gear and made their way out of the office for the evening. Falman was quick to follow, having no reason for staying any longer. Fuery also excused himself and started to make his way back to the dorms when he remembered that he had left the manual to one of the new pieces of equipment at his desk.

Fuery had meant to take that home with him so he could familiarize himself before the equipment arrived. Sighing, he turned around and made his way back.

He was about to open the door when he heard the lieutenant's voice from the inside.

"I'm surprised. Usually he only starts kicking when he's having vivid dreams sir. He must feel quite safe with you."

"Of course he does. He knows what I would do for him." The colonel sounded smug.

"Taking his side when he needs to take a bath does not count."

"So he doesn't like being wet? There's nothing inherently wrong with that is there?" There was a creak of the chair, meaning Fuery's commanding officer was leaning back in his chair. Presumably with his arms crossed behind his head.

There was a moment's pause where Fuery could see the lieutenant rolling her eyes at their superior's antics.

"Thank you sir for taking care of him while I was out this afternoon. But we best be going now, there's an appointment that we need to keep."

There were creaking sounds as the chair shifted and a small whine from Hayate as he was moved from his place of sleep. Footsteps followed as Hawkeye gathered the rest of her gear she had brought in for the day. Fuery was torn between finishing through with grabbing his book, or just booking it out of there before either one of the officers inside realized that he had eavesdropped on their conversation.

The time to make his decision grew shorter when the footsteps came closer to the door.

"Lieutenant?" The colonel's voice took a different tone than what it had been. It was lower, more hushed. There was a touch of concern lining every syllable. "You will let me know how he's doing after the appointment? I know what he means to you."

"Yes, sir."

Having decided to remain and listen, Fuery had no choice but to pretend that he had just arrived to grab his book as the Lieutenant reached for the door's handle. She nearly collided with the edge of the door.

"Oh, I'm so sorry Lieutenant Hawkeye! I didn't know that you were right there." It was easy for the small amount of panic to find its way into his voice, he was milliseconds away from being caught eavesdropping and he most certainly didn't mean to hit her with the door.

"It's alright Sergeant. Have a good night." She exited out the door that Fuery had just walked through.

Fuery grabbed the manual from his desk and went to make his hasty escape. He paused when he saw the colonel's eyes firmly remaining on the door where the lieutenant and Hayate had exited out of. There was a look on his face that could almost be mistaken for longing. As if he wanted to be going with the lieutenant and her dog to the appointment. Fuery shook his head dismissing the idea. For what reason would the colonel want to go to someone _else's_ pet's appointment? Even if said pet was incredibly familiar with the colonel.

Oh. _Oh_.

"Was there something else you needed, Sergeant?"

Fuery blinked rapidly and shook his head. "No sir. I just realized something. Have a good night then."

The colonel nodded his dismissal and went back to looking at his memos. Fuery took the opportunity and left the room. His pace was swift, but enough so onlookers would think he was fleeing from something. Perhaps just in a large hurry to get someplace else, but not fleeing.

Because he had connected the dots.

 _Oh_.

* * *

 **A/N: I had this written last year sometime, but never gotten around to posting it anywhere. And since I didn't get any fun writing done over break due to work, I polished this up to be able to say that I was able to complete something on break. Review.**


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